Meret Oppenheim
Object, 1936
Oppenheim had been experimenting with covering objects with fur in her art, and when Picasso insisted she could cover anything in fur, she decided on a teacup. While this was a kind of Dada approach to sculpture, Oppenheim was definitely a Surrealist, heavily influenced by the writings of Sigmund Freud. This piece is fantastic and erotic, and it mocks the idea of castration anxiety. The fur tea cup references female genitalia and oral eroticism instead of turning something feminine into a phallic object. As with most Dada and Surrealist sculptures, it takes a utilitarian object and renders it useless.
I sometimes feel like artists who are struggling just give in and say “fuck it”, do something really bizarre, and sit...